The annual Nairobi Film Festival, stylised as NBO Film Fest, is set to return from October 15 to 25 with a showcase of films and shorts from across Africa.
Ahead of October, organisers have called for submissions from filmmakers, but this year the call comes with a small caveat.
“To support the festival’s sustainability and strength, we’ve introduced a small submission fee this year,” organisers said. “This fee will help sustain the festival and help us keep championing bold, brilliant storytelling from Africa and beyond.”
All filmmakers will be informed of the selection by September 1, but the deadlines and submission fees are as follows:
Early Deadline: March 31, 2026
- Category – Feature Film; Price – $10
- Category – Shorts: Price – $5
Regular Deadline: May 31, 2026
- Category – Feature Film; Price – $20;
- Category – Shorts; Price – $10
Late Deadline: July 15, 2026
- Category – Feature Film; Price – $25;
- Category – Shorts; Price – $10
Founded in 2017, the NBO Film Festival is among the few film festivals that take place in Kenya and is “devoted to celebrating African and African Diaspora cultures through film.”
In 2025, NBO Film Festival served as an exclusive venue to watch one of the breakout films and highlights from the 2025 festival, “How to Build A Library”, a documentary which told the story of Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka, the founders of Book Bunk as they embarked on the task of restoring Nairobi’s historic McMillan Memorial Library, a once-grand colonial relic built in 1932 exclusively for white patrons.
In KBC Digital’s review of the film, this author argued that in its closing sequence, “the film subtly suggests that restoring a library and demanding better governance spring from the same impulse: the belief that public spaces, public institutions, and public power belong to the people.”
Unfortunately, the documentary lost the Grand Jury prize to ‘My Father’s Shadow’ by Akinola Davies. At the time, the panel of jurists said they “unanimously chose to honour” the film because “it deeply resonated” with them adding that it was “a poignant narrative about longing, the enduring bonds of family, and the profound yearning for a single day with one’s father.” The film went on to win a Bafta at the 2026 ceremony.
Selected films for this year’s festival will be announced in mid-September, prior to the festival’s opening in October.
